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July lessons: Bracket busters are back in Georgia

2, Aug 2013

July lessons: Bracket busters are back in Georgia

This 2014 Georgia class reminds me of 2011.

What do I mean by that? I mean there is a lot of really good mid-major players in the state. The kind of players that can help teams win games in March, the kind of really good mid-major player.

The 2011 class gave us guys like Bernard Thompson (FGCU), Derrick Henry (Winthrop), Tekele Cotton (Wichita State) and Adam Smith (UNC Wilmington/VATech).

Thompson averaged 14.3 points a game as a sophmore and helped Dunk City blow up in March. You could make an argument that the former Rockdale County player was Andy Enfield's most important recruit when he was at the helm in Fort Myers.

Henry came alive under Pat Kelsey's leadership at Winthrop last year, putting in nearly a dozen a game. The former Newton High School star was a starter as a sophomore and will be a key piece for this year's team at Winthrop. He's good enough to help push this club into the NCAA tournament.

Cotton was a starter for Wichita State's Final Four team. Need more convincing of his value?

And then there's Smith. The former Fayette County star was the top freshman scorer in the CAA, averaging 13.7 points when he was at UNC Wilmington. Now at Virginia Tech, he'll get back on the floor this season for the first time in a year.

The 2014 class is loaded with similar players.

Don't be surprised if these guys bust up some brackets when they are playing in college: Nate Mason (Shiloh), Eric Lockett (Whitefield Academy), Cameron Johnson (Clarke Central) and Nick Harris (St. Pius X).

There's a common theme between these players, too. They won big games in July.

Mason was a key player for CP3 and the team's march to the Peach Jam finals. He was great in the championship game, scoring 21 points and dropping seven assists. A host of who's who mid-major schools are knocking on the door.

Eric Lockett was Mr. Hustle in July (well, every month really) and helped Aim High on it in July. The 6-foot-5 relentless prospect knows where his value in college is at, too. He could be the program-changer for a number of schools that are recruiting him.

We've been high on Cameron Johnson for a long time. The Athens native is a dual-sport athlete and one heck of a winner. He went from unknown hooper in the spring ta a favorite recruit for a number of schools. He can shoot, he's athletic, he's big and he wins.

A sleeper big man doesn't come around very often but Nick Harris may fall into that category. The 6-foot-10 center from the Atlanta All-Stars is coming along very nicely. We slid him out of our pre-summer rankings but he'll come back with a vengence this month.

There's a host of others that could easily be included on this list. July revealed the future bracket busters in Georgia. The proof is in the win column.


Justin Young
Editor-in-Chief

Justin Young has been the editor-in-chief of HoopSeen.com since 2013. He manages the day-to-day operations on the site and in conjunction with our national and regional events. He was the national basketball editor for Rivals.com and a contributing editor at Yahoo! Sports. Young has been earned numerous awards for his work in sports journalism, including the Georgia Press Association Columnist of the Year. His Justin Young Basketball recruiting service has been in existence since 2002 and worked with over 300 schools from all levels. He is the director of HoopSeen Elite Preview camps and our national Preview camp series. 

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